Chapter 1924: The Mystery of the Heavenly God's Disciple

The disturbance caused by the Sunlit Heavenly Disciple quickly subsided. There were many casualties in Renyuan Valley, and the entire Cloudmist Sacred Land began a thorough investigation.

Lu Ye was sent back to the Star-Plucking Tower, where Sun Nianyue arranged for more hidden guards to protect him. Evidently, the recent incident had startled her. She knew that once Lu Ye's reputation spread, it would surely attract the attention of the Heavenly Disciples. She had already taken precautions against this, but she never expected a Sunlit Heavenly Disciple to act personally. Had A'qiduo not suddenly manifested a powerful defensive artifact this time, she truly didn't know if her junior brother would have survived.

Lu Ye didn't need to handle the aftermath outside. Inside the Star-Plucking Tower, he frowned in thought. Abulo sat quietly beside him, healing and recuperating. As expected of a barbarian from the Ancient Barbarian Realm, his physique was incredibly strong. He took a direct hit from a Sunlit Heavenly Disciple and, apart from being a bit disheveled, was surprisingly unharmed.

Time passed, and Abulo finally recovered. He let out a deep breath, then saw Lu Ye standing not far away and frowned, asking, "What are you thinking about?"

Lu Ye replied, "Something feels off."

"What do you mean?" Abulo asked.

"Think about it," Lu Ye began, "on our side of the battlefield, each force has a Sunlit commander. According to current intelligence, Tianhong's strength is superior to his opponent's. He has defeated the enemy several times, but because they are Heavenly Disciples, they cannot be truly killed. If Tianhong has been keeping a close eye on his counterpart, how did that person infiltrate the Final Gloom Realm without anyone knowing?"

It would be one thing if ordinary Heavenly Disciples infiltrated—that's unavoidable. But for a Sunlit one to infiltrate without anyone knowing, how weak must the Final Gloom Realm's defenses be?

Abulo's eyes darted around. "You don't think Tianhong..."

Lu Ye shook his head. "It's not that. If Tianhong had a problem, we'd be dead already. Besides, Tianhong came to our rescue at a crucial moment before, so he shouldn't be the problem. I'm just wondering why he couldn't prevent that Sunlit one's infiltration."

"It is indeed a bit strange." Abulo seemed to grasp Lu Ye's meaning. "Have you figured it out then?"

"No," Lu Ye replied. "I initially suspected there might be a spy acting as an inside accomplice in our realm. But even if there were, as long as Tianhong was careful enough, they wouldn't succeed, because he only needed to keep an eye on that Sunlit Heavenly Disciple." Unless there was more than one Sunlit Heavenly Disciple in the Final Gloom Realm. But if there were more than one, Tianhong would never have been able to rush back so quickly. The situation became increasingly convoluted.

What frustrated Lu Ye even more was that his research into Heavenly Disciples had made no progress these past few days. He had personally re-enacted all the various attempts made in the Final Gloom Realm, but still hadn't figured out the mystery of how Heavenly Disciples could resurrect. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary inside the Heavenly Disciples' bodies either. It seemed he could only resort to that move now.

With that thought in mind, Lu Ye said, "Bring a Heavenly Disciple here."

Abulo stood up and left, returning shortly with a Constellation Realm Heavenly Disciple in his hand, holding him like a noodle. The Heavenly Disciple had undoubtedly been knocked unconscious by him. Heavenly Disciples were very volatile. They would often use secret arts similar to Blood Explosion, as they had no fear of death, and their spiritual power was also extremely strange, so anyone caught in their self-destruction wouldn't fare well.

Placing the Heavenly Disciple before him, Lu Ye raised a finger and tapped it on the opponent's forehead. Abulo stood by, observing. Soon, he sensed fluctuations of divine sense emanating from Lu Ye, immediately understanding Lu Ye's intention. He asked in surprise, "You know soul-searching techniques too?"

He quickly warned, "Be careful. Tianhong tried this before, but those Heavenly Disciples still self-destructed. Their Divine Seas seem to have some kind of restriction that triggers upon soul-searching."

Lu Ye nodded. Of course, he hadn't practiced soul-searching techniques, but he had a more convenient method. He was reluctant to use it unless absolutely necessary, as it always made him feel very uncomfortable.

His divine sense surged, easily breaking through the Constellation Heavenly Disciple's Divine Sea defenses. The spirit pattern 'One Touch of Understanding' quickly took shape. The next instant, fragmented scenes rapidly flashed through Lu Ye's mind... These images were undoubtedly all the past experiences of the Heavenly Disciple before him!

Lu Ye was utterly astonished. He believed that the Constellation Realm cultivator before him was very likely a 'shadow.' Given this, he wasn't sure if 'One Touch of Understanding' would be effective. After all, shadows were mere illusions formed by the mysterious power of the Asura Field, not truly existing entities at this stage. Yet, even so, Lu Ye still managed to glimpse the shadow's various past experiences. From this, it seemed the mysterious nature of the shadows formed by the Asura Field far exceeded his imagination. Aside from vanishing into glowing light after being killed, they were effectively indistinguishable from living beings.

He immersed himself, carefully probing. Gradually, Lu Ye learned the other party's origin. He had thought the opponent was an invader from another star system. But only now did he realize that the opponent was a cultivator from their own star system, simply not from the Final Gloom Realm, but from another realm. But for some unknown reason, they had become a Heavenly Disciple. Lu Ye felt as if he had stumbled upon a secret.

A moment later, he saw some fragmented scenes: the cultivator battling a Heavenly Disciple. This scene undoubtedly occurred recently, as the invasion of their star system had only happened in the last few years. Lu Ye's heart pounded with excitement. If he could glimpse how this cultivator became a Heavenly Disciple, then he would surely uncover the secret.

Another scene flashed by: the Constellation Realm cultivator defeated by an enemy. His entire body was shattered, his aura weak, on the verge of death. He was currently being held by a Heavenly Disciple, flying towards a brown star. The scene shifted again, and Lu Ye saw a cauldron shrouded in blood-red light. The cauldron was enormous, its surface covered with blood-colored patterns resembling thick blood vessels, making one's heart tremble just by looking at it. A thick, bloody stench assailed him, and from within the cauldron came a rhythmic 'thump-thump' sound, like a heartbeat. On both sides of the cauldron, there were strange blood-flower patterns. What astonished Lu Ye was the incredibly vast and condensed vitality contained within this blood-red cauldron, a scale he had never experienced before. The current viewpoint was directly above the blood-red cauldron, clearly showing that the Constellation Realm cultivator had been brought there by the Heavenly Disciple. Immediately, the view rapidly descended, indicating he was likely thrown in.

Lu Ye held his breath, concentrating. He knew the secret of the Heavenly Disciples' birth was right before his eyes! However, at that very moment, blood-red light suddenly surged within the enormous cauldron. A crack then appeared, which rapidly widened and transformed into a single eye! Stared at by that single eye, Lu Ye's mind wavered.

With a 'boom,' Lu Ye snapped back to reality. Abulo's shout, "Lu Ye!" reached his ears. The Heavenly Disciple was no longer in sight, only countless scattered body fragments remained. Coupled with the previous disturbance and the accompanying impact, Lu Ye immediately understood that the Constellation Realm cultivator had self-destructed!

Abulo had just reminded him that a restriction was placed within the Heavenly Disciples' Divine Seas, which would trigger upon soul-searching. It had indeed proven true. Although he hadn't used a soul-searching technique, 'One Touch of Understanding' was undoubtedly more comprehensive than soul-searching. He must have accidentally triggered the restriction in the opponent's Divine Sea, causing the Heavenly Disciple to self-destruct. The loud sound and accompanying impact were from the self-destruction.

Lu Ye wasn't injured; a Constellation Realm cultivator's self-destruction couldn't harm him much. However, what puzzled Lu Ye was that his own vitality and blood were involuntarily surging and boiling. In the ethereal distance, at some remote location, it felt as if something was pulling at his vital energy, attempting to devour it. He couldn't help but recall the enormous blood-red cauldron he had just seen... The secret of the Heavenly Disciples' birth lay within it, and it was undoubtedly that bizarre object that was drawing his vital energy. What was that? And what was that single blood-red eye that suddenly appeared at the last moment?

He gently took a breath, suppressing the abnormality in his vital energy. He looked up at the self-destructed Heavenly Disciple, expecting the opponent to revive. Sure enough, the shattered body fragments seemed to be drawn by some force, gathering towards a single spot. They rapidly reassembled into the Heavenly Disciple's form, and even the scattered blood flowed back as if migrating.

Lu Ye suddenly raised an eyebrow, staring intently at the Heavenly Disciple's head. He exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Luo, look!"

Abulo followed his gaze. "What is it?"

"This, a blood-flower!" Lu Ye said again. The blood-flower was identical to the one he had just seen on the blood-red cauldron.

Abulo scrutinized it, then turned to Lu Ye, his brows furrowed in solemnity. "You can't see it?" Lu Ye immediately realized.

"I don't see anything," Abulo replied.

As they spoke, something even stranger occurred. A beam of blood-red light suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the blood-flower, and a faint, wondrous vitality seemed to infuse the blood-flower from the light. Lu Ye looked at Abulo again and saw that he still appeared confused and clearly hadn't seen anything, nor did he feel any abnormalities. Lu Ye stopped talking and observed carefully. Soon after, the blood-red light that had appeared out of nowhere and the blood-flower gradually dissipated. The Heavenly Disciple, who should have been dead, suddenly opened his eyes, brimming with vitality. Freshly revived, he was clearly still somewhat disoriented, unable to comprehend the current situation. However, upon seeing Lu Ye, he immediately moved and lunged forward.

A large hand directly seized his neck, lifting him up. Abulo asked, "What do we do now?"

"Wait a moment," Lu Ye replied, a contemplative look on his face.

This use of 'One Touch of Understanding' indeed yielded a lot of useful information, though it wasn't comprehensive enough. Nevertheless, it gave him tremendous progress in his research on Heavenly Disciples.